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Possible demolition of blighted historic Vineville house continues to frustrate residents

After pushback from neighbors, Mayor Lester Miller wrote in a Facebook post that he's stepping in.

MACON, Ga. — Some folks are frustrated because a blighted home in the Historic Vineville neighborhood could be torn down.

Caitlin Mee lives just up the road from the Big House in the Historic Vineville neighborhood.

Mee said, "I've always really had a special place in my heart for historic homes."

Mee is an architectural historian and preservationist. 

Not too long ago, she heard controversy over the white house next to the Allman Brothers' Big House Museum.

"We found out through the Nextdoor app that the Big House was hoping to demolish the house next door to it," said Mee.

According to documents, 2353 Vineville Avenue was damaged by a fire and is now beyond repair, so Macon-Bibb Planning and Zoning issued a permit allowing demolition of the building.

Brad Coman, President of the Vineville Neighborhood Association, said the possible demolition came as a surprise. 

He says the Big House director told him they hope to build an amphitheater at the site.

"When we found out that, we realized a bulldozer could show up any day and we would have lost another historic home in the neighborhood," said Coman.

"I would hope the Big House would consider is to keep the historic home and scale back and still use it for the purposes that they need to," said Mee.

Vineville Neighborhood Association member Lars Anderson says he's especially concerned after another developer got approval to turn a nearby home into a social club.

Anderson said, "Now the fact that it has been ripped, in my opinion, with HoneyBee's, it's going to be a challenge for us, because what are the rules now?"

After pushback from neighbors, Mayor Lester Miller wrote in a Facebook post that he's stepping in.

Miller wrote that the building condemnation has been postponed until the county can hold a public hearing.

No date has been set.

The executive director of the Big House, Richard Brent, declined to talk with us, but said those amphitheater plans are not final.

The mayor also declined to talk to us about the issue.

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